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Power Businesses EU Transportation Technology

Four Automakers Team Up To Create an Electric Car Charging Network Across Europe (theverge.com) 62

Posted by BeauHD from the across-the-universe dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: A group of automakers has created a new company to build a network of 400 fast chargers across Europe ahead of the wave of new electric cars they've promised in the next few years, as countries push EVs as a way to meet emissions goals. Ionity, announced Friday by BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company and the Volkswagen Group, will install a network of 400 high-power EV chargers across Europe by 2020. There are already 20 chargers under the Ionity network that are being installed this year in Germany, Austria, and Norway at 75-mile intervals, the companies said. Those chargers would also be maintained through partnerships with stores such as Tank & Rast, Circle K, and OMV. Such a network is also necessary to compete with the efforts from Tesla's Supercharger network, which is now 7,000 strong worldwide. It uses the company's own connector and started a major European expansion three years ago. To that, Ionity has invited other companies to join the venture in which the four initial automakers have an equal share.
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Four Automakers Team Up To Create an Electric Car Charging Network Across Europe More

Four Automakers Team Up To Create an Electric Car Charging Network Across Europe

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  • Just sayin... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    https://www.tesla.com/findus?n... [tesla.com]

    Anon because I'm in the biz.

  • I haz an idea (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Snotnose ( 212196 ) on Friday November 03, 2017 @07:11PM (#55486609)
    Howzabout an electric car charging network across my apartment complex.

    • You don't have one yet? That is already quite common in Europe. I'd have an electric car too if I can afford it and I live in an apartment without a garage. I'd just park on the street and fill up on one of the street posts.

      In some cities if you show your address, and your car registration the council will install a charging point in your street. In some cities you'll even end up with dedicated reserved parking that way (I know someone who doesn't give a shit about the environment and only got an electric c

  • 75 miles? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    75 miles doesn't sound right. Did Ford spend extra money to get rid of standard units?

  • There are already at least four different electric car plugs, so now they want to come out with number five? Spare me...

    • Re:Yet Another Connector 8-( (Score:5, Informative)

      by whoever57 ( 658626 ) on Friday November 03, 2017 @07:20PM (#55486649) Journal

      No, they are using CCS.
      https://electrek.co/2017/11/03... [electrek.co]

    • so now they want to come out with number five?

      No they don't.

      Spare me...

      If you want to be spared read a book, learn to research instead of just spouting off uneducated garbage. Until then you won't be spared. You will be ridiculed for your ignorance.

    • Re:Yet Another Connector 8-( (Score:4, Informative)

      by SmilingBoy ( 686281 ) on Saturday November 04, 2017 @03:44AM (#55488023)

      No, at least in Europe, there are only three standards for fast charging. One of which is a proprietary solution by Tesla (which is unlikely to support charging currents much higher than the current 250 A as the pins are relatively small), the other is CCS2, the standard most companies are/will be using with available designs up to 1000 V and 500 A, and then there is CHAdeMO, which is used by Japanese makes. I am pretty sure that CHAdeMO will disappear in a few years (as you need a second charging port for AC whereas with a CCS inlet, you have a combined AC/DC port), and it would also make sense for Tesla to switch to CCS2 as it would be physically compatible with their current plug, and just require two additional pins.

      So I think in 5 years, most or all cars sold in Europe will have the CCS2 port.

  • Charging networks are crucial for EV in Europe (Score:5, Interesting)

    by PolygamousRanchKid ( 1290638 ) on Friday November 03, 2017 @07:13PM (#55486625)

    Lots of folks in Europe live, like I do, in an inner city. I am now privileged, and have an apartment with a garage, but for most folks, they just park their cars on the street, and have no method of charging there.

    As an ideal . . . I would like to see EV charging stations to be like gas stations are now: You can stop anywhere and tank up, and just pick a station that has a reasonable price. No proprietary connectors.

    When we have that . . . we're there :-)

    I walk or take public transportation most of the time, so it is sort of a moot point for me.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      As an ideal... I would like to see EV charging stations to be like gas stations are now: You can stop anywhere and tank up, and just pick a station that has a reasonable price. No proprietary connectors.

      I think it's unlikely that they'll find some super-rapid charging that's healthy for the battery. Here in Norway it's my impression that they're trying to kill off permanent street parking, like either you have a parking garage/lot for the apartment/office building or it's intended for shoppers and visitors with a maximum of three hours or they've taken them for bus/tram/bike paths. There's zone parking in some areas for residents because the buildings have no garages, but generally not when they're develop

      • Well, of course, that is the same reason they want us to go to electric cars. If you cannot afford to have your own garage, you should not have your own car. That is the whole point of most "AGW solutions", only the elites should be able to travel freely.

    • Lots of folks in Europe live, like I do, in an inner city. I am now privileged, and have an apartment with a garage, but for most folks, they just park their cars on the street, and have no method of charging there.

      I live in Europe in the inner city. There are 3 charging points in my street alone and the number keep increasing every year.

      As an ideal . . . I would like to see EV charging stations to be like gas stations are now: You can stop anywhere and tank up, and just pick a station that has a reasonable price. No proprietary connectors.

      NO! That is a horrible waste of time idea that serves only to fit EVs to an outdated model of having to "fill up" a car while at the same time creating incredibly difficult to solve problems for the energy grid. Cars should be fully ready to go when you get in them. The only reason you should have to fill up on the go is for an international road trip.

      These companies know this as well

    • Re:Charging networks are crucial for EV in Europe (Score:4, Interesting)

      by LostMyBeaver ( 1226054 ) on Saturday November 04, 2017 @02:23AM (#55487867)
      I may seem naive, but where do you live?

      I actually have driven an electric car for over a year now and still don't have a charger in my parking space at home. I drive into the city and while I'm at work or meetings or coffee shops, I charge on the street because there are charger spaces pretty much all over the place. Of course, there are days where the free charging spaces (free for slow charge, $40 a year for 16amp) are taken, so I might either choose to park in a garage where I can use a 22amp charger for about 0.08 USD per minute, or I may stop at the gas station and fast charge (50 amp DC charger) for about 0.20 USD a minute.

      When driving on the highway, I stop at gas stations along the way where in some locations there are only two or three fast chargers, but often there are 4-10 fast chargers available from multiple different power companies (which is good because I hate one of them).

      I could drive all through Norway, Sweden and Denmark (at least on the highways) without ever fearing running out of battery and I'm driving a car with a 100km highway range.

      Are there still 3rd world countries out there which haven't adapted to the 21st century?
      • It's refreshing to see good old-fashioned sneering Scandinavian superiority. Although it was amusing watching you suddenly turn your coats and become temporarily and bafflingly pro-American back when Trump was going to withdraw us from NATO. Good to see everything is back to normal now.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

      Car chargers should be more common than streetlights and indeed streetlights could double up and have a couple of chargers. 400 stations in Europe is a joke, lip service, marketing, there are over 8000 Petrol (Gas) stations in the UK alone, What Europe needs is literally tens of millions of chargers, not 400.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Fast charging is only half the problem. Countries that are serious about this are putting in huge numbers of slow chargers in residential areas, car parks and at retail locations.

      Most areas already have infrastructure for street lighting, they just need the chargers installing. The chargers are little more than sockets in a lamp post or on a pole.

      • Most areas already have infrastructure for street lighting, they just need the chargers installing.

        A city will pay to light the streets. They won't pay to charge your car. The charging stations need a billing system.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          This is a solved problem. Some networks have a system where you plug in and get 15 minutes grace, and in that time you scan a QR code with an app to confirm the charge and pay for it.

  • So, 400 charging stations for all of Europe is supposed to impress me? That is a drop in the bucket to what it would take to make them not annoyingly inconvenient to find.

    • That is a drop in the bucket to what it would take to make them not annoyingly inconvenient to find.

      Why would you be trying to find them? Your car will be fully charged at home. The only reason you would use one of these 400 stations is so you can drive internationally across Europe in an EV. You won't need to find them, they will all be highway stop locations.

      So, 400 charging stations for all of Europe is supposed to impress me?

      At the end of this you will be able to drive your EV from South of Spain to the north of Finland without range anxiety. If you're not impressed then maybe up your dose on the anti-depressants.

    • These are super fast charging station located on motorway stops primarily to be used on long-distance drives by cars that can charge with 350 kW (i.e. only cars with a very large battery of at least 150 kWh).

      Europe has around 80,000 km of motorways. 400 stations would mean one station every 200 km. The company claims that it would put one station every 120 km. Given that many motorways are short and only used for local traffic, I think their claim is probably correct when only considering motorways used

  • You know how Mac users have to pay outrageous prices for all kinds of adaptors and dongles to get their gear to work with "normal" stuff like TVs, projectors, chargers, and HiFi docs? Well how about outrageously priced adaptors so Teslas can use other EV chargers and vice versa?

  • I think in the end, all the electric car manufacturers should agree on a _single_ AC and DC charging standard. That way, everyone won't have to hunt around for a charging station--especially DC charging--compatible with their electric car.

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